Four floors of living space await the buyer of this Prairie-style Oak Park townhouse.
The home–Unit D at 429 S. Oak Park Ave.–is listed at $209,000.
On entering the home, the open two-story foyer provides welcome relief to a somewhat narrow entryway. Ceramic-tile floors and a built-in wood cabinet with recessed lighting add a sophisticated air.
A first-floor family room, measuring 19 by 15 feet, has the neutral-tone carpeting that continues throughout the home. A door in the family room leads to the back of the home. Another door, across from the staircase in the foyer, leads to the home’s attached one-car garage.
Storage space throughout the home is abundant. The first floor alone offers a guest closet, a walk-in closet next to the staircase, and a closet in the family room.
Upstairs, on the second level, are the living room, dining room, kitchen and a small powder room that is tastefully decorated in soft-blue tones with a floral-pattern border.
To the right of the powder room is the 13-by-10 kitchen. With large, four-panel windows that face south and extend into the dining area, this room is sunny and inviting. Features include oak cabinets and wide countertops that offer plenty of cooking space as well as a double-bowl sink that overlooks the 12-by-11 dining room.
A utility room off the kitchen houses a clothes washer and dryer and a built-in ironing board compartment. All of the appliances will stay with the home when it is sold, said real estate agent Dorothy Allen of FC Pilgrim and Co. Oak Park.
To the left of the powder room is the living room, measuring 19 by 13 feet. A wood-burning fireplace and Prairie-influenced, band-oak moldings add to the charm of this room, as does an elegant wood railing that overlooks the foyer below.
“A lot of Oak Park homes have this kind of Frank Lloyd Wright, Prairie-style look,” Allen noted.
Another set of stairs leads to the third level and the home’s two bedrooms and two full baths. Off the third-level hallway is a full bathroom with neutral wallpaper and ceramic-tile tub-surround and floor.
One bedroom measures 16 by 11 feet and features a walk-in closet and four-panel windows that face the south. Trees outside the window provide shelter from the summer heat.
Also handy are the door intercoms in the hallways on each floor of the townhouse.
“It’s nice because if someone came to your door, you can talk without having to run all the way downstairs,” Allen said.
The master bedroom measures 17 by 12 feet and offers long, wall-length closets on both sides of the room. The master bathroom has a ceramic-tile floor and a built-in wood cabinet.
A third staircase leads to the fourth level of the home–a 19-by-10 loft. The current owner uses the space as a den, but this area could also be converted into a bedroom. The room has a built-in wood cabinet similar to the one found on the first floor. There is also a small window and a sliding glass door, which leads to a large outdoor deck that’s perfect for barbecuing and summer living.
“It’s really a unique setup,” Allen said. “It’s so big. You can do all of your barbecuing here or gardening. A couple of the homes have beautiful flowers out here in the summer.”
With each floor offering self-contained living, the home provides plenty of privacy.
“You’re not in rooms right next to each other,” Allen noted. “This would be ideal for the career person who wants a lot of space.”
The home has central air conditioning. Window treatments will stay when the house is sold. Taxes for 1996 were $4,458.
This year, there are no assessment fees, said Allen. “They did have a small one of around $28 a month to do the outside work, but they had so much left over that this year there isn’t any. There may be an assessment next year, but it would be minimum.”
The home is 25 minutes from downtown Chicago and is accessible from the Eisenhower Expressway.
